True crimes: 10 most shocking stories in the Philippines

Years have passed, yet there are stories that remain unresolved. For some, true crime stories risk reopening wounds of affected communities. But these real-life criminal cases remain worth retelling, as they expose systemic issues in the pursuit of justice. 

Here are the top 10 stories featured in ABS-CBN’s “Philippines’ Most Shocking Stories,” revisiting gruesome crimes from the past three decades. 

A beauty queen who has been missing since 2023. This episode delves into the search for Catherine Camilon, who was last seen at a mall in Batangas but never made it home. Strands of her hair were found inside a van and matched to her parents’ DNA, yet her body remains undiscovered. The case shocked the nation as it spread from social media to congressional investigations.

The story of Myrna Diones, the sole survivor of the 1992 Sablan massacre, who later helped authorities identify the suspects involved in the crime: five police officers who abducted the victims under the guise of law enforcement. Then 14 years old, Diones suffered multiple stab wounds, while her sister and two cousins were brutally killed in Benguet.

This episode explores the Maguindanao massacre of November 2009, in which 58 people were brutally killed, including 32 media professionals and members of Esmael Mangudadatu’s family, who were accompanying his convoy on its way to file his certificate of candidacy. One of the deadliest politically motivated massacres in Philippine history, the incident exposed alleged abuses of power by the influential Ampatuan political clan, whose members were accused of hiring armed men to eliminate their political rivals.

In 1993, Elsa Castillo met a gruesome death when her dismembered body was discovered in different provinces of Luzon. Investigations revealed that she had been killed by her American partner, Stephen Mark Whisenhunt, inside a condominium in Greenhills, San Juan, reportedly out of jealousy. The case became one of the most notorious “chop-chop” murders in the Philippines.

An alleged case of cannibalism in 2004 shocked the country following a wedding celebration in Palawan. The incident reportedly stemmed from an accusation that Benjie Ganay had inappropriately touched the bride. He was never found after the incident. When the investigation began, one of the suspects, who later became a state witness, claimed that some of Ganay’s body parts had allegedly been served as food during the celebration.

Nearly four years after her disappearance, 54-year-old Evelyn Sayos was found inside a septic tank filled with cement in her own home in Dasmariñas, Cavite. The murder was plotted by the victim’s daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend. Both used her social media accounts to make it appear as though Sayos was working in Singapore. 

The gruesome death of 7-year-old Geraldine “Dindin” Palma shocked the public when she was found stuffed inside a green suitcase in Manila Bay, near North Harbor. This episode revisits the 2007 kidnapping case involving Palma and her nanny, Maritess Ontog, in which the kidnappers demanded a ransom of ₱245,000 from Palma’s parents. Ontog was never found, and the case remains unsolved. Nearly 20 years after the crime, the Palma family continues to seek justice.

This episode revisits one of the most infamous criminal cases in Philippine history, involving the 2002 death of Alona Bacolod-Ecleo, a fourth-year medical student and the wife of a cult leader. Her body was found in a deep ravine in Dalaguete, Cebu, wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag. Ruben Ecleo Jr., the victim’s husband, who was also a former politician, was found guilty of parricide in 2012. 

This episode revisits the 1993 murder case of University of the Philippines Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, who were abducted, raped, and tortured by men working for then-Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez. In 1995, Sanchez and six of his bodyguards were convicted in connection with the crimes and sentenced to a total of 280 years in prison.

This episode delves into the brutal 2019 murder of 16-year-old student Christine Silawan, whose body was found in a vacant lot in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. She had suffered multiple stab wounds, and her face had been skinned, with evidence of sexual assault and extreme mutilation. The investigation later took a dramatic turn when a 43-year-old man confessed to authorities that he had killed Silawan out of obsession.